JP2007069382A - Printing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress printing irregularity due to the supply of a resin solution to an anilox roll, on the occasion of printing a resin film on a substrate constituting a liquid crystal panel. <P>SOLUTION: This printing equipment has the anilox roll 3 and solution spreading means which come into contact with the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox roll 3 along the direction of the rotational axis of the anilox roll 3 and spread out, on the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox wall 3, a PI solution 11 supplied to this surface, and a PI thin film 11c spread out on the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox roll 3 is transferred onto the substrate 10 constituting the liquid crystal panel, so that an oriented film 11d be printed on the substrate 10. The solution spreading means are a first doctor blade 5 and a second doctor blade 6 provided in a plurality along the circumferential direction of the anilox roll 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, and more particularly to a flexographic printing apparatus for printing a resin film such as a polyimide film on the surface of a substrate constituting a liquid crystal panel.

  The liquid crystal panel includes a pair of substrates disposed to face each other and a liquid crystal layer provided between the two substrates. An alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer in a certain direction is provided between each substrate and the liquid crystal layer.

  The alignment film is composed of a polymer film mainly made of polyimide (hereinafter abbreviated as “PI”) resin. In order to form this alignment film on the surface of the substrate, first, a PI resin is dissolved in an organic solvent to prepare a PI solution, then the PI solution is applied to the substrate, and then the substrate is heated to obtain a PI solution. The organic solvent contained in is evaporated. Here, a flexographic printing apparatus 120 as shown in FIG. 5 is often used for the application of the PI solution.

  This flexographic printing apparatus 120 includes a cylindrical anilox roll 103, a doctor blade 105 provided so that the tip thereof is in contact with the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 103, a dispenser 107 provided on the upper side of the doctor blade 105, A cylindrical plate cylinder 102 having a resin plate 104 attached to a part of the peripheral wall surface, and a stage 101 on which a substrate 110 to be printed is placed.

  In order to apply the PI solution to the surface of the substrate 110 using the flexographic printing apparatus 120, first, as shown in FIG. 5, the dispenser 107 is placed on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 103 rotating clockwise. The PI solution is dropped, and the dropped PI solution 111 is scraped by the tip of the doctor blade 105 on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 103, so that the PI solution 111 is uniformly spread on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 103. 111 thin films are formed. Next, the thin film of the PI solution 111 formed on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 103 is brought into contact with the resin plate 104 attached to the plate cylinder 102 rotating counterclockwise. Transfer. Finally, the thin film of the PI solution 111 transferred to the resin plate 104 is formed by bringing the resin plate 104 of the plate cylinder 102 into contact with the substrate 110 on the stage 101 while moving the stage 101 from the left side to the right side in FIG. Transferred to the surface of the substrate 110.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, when a thick film is printed with a paste having a relatively high viscosity, printing is performed even if the viscosity of the paste to be printed changes by controlling the position and inclination of the doctor blade. There has been disclosed a flexographic printing apparatus that can maintain an appropriate film thickness of a pattern.

Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an offset printing that can increase the ink filling amount in the concave pattern and suppress the ink remaining on the plate by using a doctor blade having a blade edge leveling portion and a blade edge filling portion. An apparatus is disclosed.
JP 2004-276390 A JP 2000-334916 A

  By the way, in the conventional flexographic printing apparatus 120, the PI solution 111 is scraped by the tip of the doctor blade 105 on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 103 as shown in FIG. There is a risk that the bubbles 112 may be trapped. Then, in the thin film of the PI solution 111 formed on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 103, film unevenness 111a due to the bubbles 112 occurs as shown in FIG.

  Further, since the dispenser 107 is generally configured to drop the PI solution 111 on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 103 while moving in the direction of the rotation axis of the anilox roll 103, the dispenser 107 is formed on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 103. As shown in FIG. 8, there is a possibility that the liquid trace 111 b resulting from the dropping of the dispenser 107 may be attached to the thin film of the PI solution 111.

  The film unevenness 111a and the liquid trace 111b in the thin film of the PI solution 111 are transferred to the substrate 110 as they are after being transferred to the resin plate 104, thereby causing printing unevenness.

  As a countermeasure, it is conceivable to remove the film unevenness 111a and the liquid trace 111b by scraping the PI solution 111 by the doctor blade 105 over a plurality of circumferences of the anilox roll 103. However, there is a problem that the production efficiency is lowered due to the long scraping time.

  In addition, in order to prevent a short circuit between the electrodes, an insulating film made of a complex oxide or the like may be formed on the substrate by a flexographic printing apparatus before applying the PI solution. However, the problem of uneven printing as described above occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of such points, and the object of the present invention is to prevent printing unevenness caused by the supply of the resin solution to the anilox roll when the resin film is printed on the substrate constituting the liquid crystal panel. It is to suppress.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plurality of liquid spreading means for spreading the resin solution supplied to the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox roll is provided along the circumferential direction of the anilox roll.

  Specifically, the printing apparatus according to the present invention is configured to contact the anilox roll and the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox roll along the rotation axis direction of the anilox roll, and supply the resin solution supplied to the surface of the peripheral wall to the surface of the peripheral wall. A printing apparatus for transferring a resin solution developed on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll to a substrate constituting a liquid crystal panel and printing a resin film on the substrate. A plurality of developing means are provided along the circumferential direction of the anilox roll.

  According to the above configuration, since a plurality of liquid spreading means for spreading the resin solution supplied to the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll is provided along the circumferential direction of the anilox roll, suppose that the resin solution is supplied to the anilox roll. Even if the resin solution is unevenly developed by the upstream liquid developing means provided on the upstream side in the rotational direction of the anilox roll, the unevenly developed resin solution is It is uniformly developed by the liquid developing means. As a result, the uniformly developed resin solution is transferred to the substrate constituting the liquid crystal panel, so that a uniform resin film is printed on the substrate. Therefore, when printing a resin film on the substrate constituting the liquid crystal panel, uneven printing due to the supply of the resin solution to the anilox roll is suppressed.

  The liquid spreading means may be a doctor blade having a cutting edge portion that extends in a rotation axis direction of the anilox roll and contacts a peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll.

  According to the above configuration, if there is a problem in the supply of the resin solution to the anilox roll, the blade tip of the upstream doctor blade provided on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the anilox roll and the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll Even if the resin solution is unevenly spread due to the development of the resin solution between the two, the resin solution that has been unevenly spread is a resin solution between the blade edge of the downstream doctor blade and the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll. It is expanded uniformly by the development of.

  The liquid spreading means may be a doctor roll in which the anilox roll and the peripheral wall surfaces are in contact with each other.

  According to the above configuration, if there is a problem in the supply of the resin solution to the anilox roll, the peripheral wall surface of the upstream doctor roll and the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll provided on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the anilox roll Even if the resin solution is spread unevenly due to the development of the resin solution between the resin solution, the resin solution that is spread unevenly is a resin solution between the peripheral wall surface of the downstream doctor roll and the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll. It is expanded uniformly by the development of.

  A liquid supply means for supplying the resin solution may be provided, and the liquid supply means may be configured to drop the resin solution on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll while moving in the rotation axis direction of the anilox roll. Good.

  According to the above configuration, the liquid supply means drops the resin solution on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll while moving in the direction of the rotation axis of the anilox roll, so that the resin solution developed on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll Although there is a possibility that liquid traces may remain during dripping, a plurality of liquid developing means for developing the resin solution supplied to the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox roll are provided along the circumferential direction of the anilox roll. Even if there is a problem with the supply means and the resin solution is spread unevenly by the upstream liquid spreading means provided upstream in the rotation direction of the anilox roll, the unevenly spread resin solution is downstream. It is uniformly developed by the liquid developing means on the side.

  The resin film may be an alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules.

  According to the above configuration, since the uneven printing of the alignment film is suppressed, it is possible to align the liquid crystal molecules in contact with the alignment film in a certain direction.

  According to the present invention, since a plurality of liquid spreading means for spreading the resin solution supplied to the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll is provided along the circumferential direction of the anilox roll, the resin film is printed on the substrate constituting the liquid crystal panel. In doing so, printing unevenness due to the supply of the resin solution to the anilox roll can be suppressed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

Embodiment 1 of the Invention
1 to 3 show Embodiment 1 of a printing apparatus according to the present invention. The printing apparatus of this embodiment is a flexographic printing apparatus that prints an alignment film on a substrate that constitutes a liquid crystal panel. Here, FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the printing apparatus 20a of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a top view of the anilox roll 3 when the printing apparatus 20a is viewed from above.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 20 a includes a cylindrical anilox roll 3 that rotates clockwise, and a first doctor blade that is provided so that the tip is in contact with the peripheral wall surface on the upper right side of the anilox roll 3. 5, similarly, the second doctor blade 6 provided on the right side of the first doctor blade 5 so that the tip comes into contact with the peripheral wall surface on the upper right side of the anilox roll 3, and the upper left side of the first doctor blade 5. The dispenser 7 provided, the resin plate 4 is attached to a part of the surface of the peripheral wall, the columnar plate cylinder 2 that rotates counterclockwise, and the substrate 10 to be printed are placed, and the plate cylinder 2 rotates. And a stage 1 that reciprocally moves in parallel.

  The anilox roll 3 has a roll body made of metal and a peripheral wall surface covered with ceramic or chrome plating. And since the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 3 has many fine recessed grooves, the resin solution supplied from the dispenser 7 can be held.

  The first doctor blade 5 and the second doctor blade 6 are liquid developing means formed of, for example, polyester resin, and extend in the rotation axis direction (width direction) of the anilox roll 3 and contact the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 3. Each has a cutting edge E to be used. Further, the first doctor blade 5 and the second doctor blade 6 are configured to swing along the width direction of the anilox roll 3.

  The dispenser 7 is a liquid supply means that is connected to the pressurizing device and supplies the resin solution filled therein to the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox roll 3 at a constant pressure. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the dispenser 7 can reciprocate in the width direction on the anilox roll 3, and from the upper side to the lower side in FIG. To the upper side).

  The plate cylinder 2 has a main body made of metal, and includes a vise for fixing and closely attaching the resin plate 4 to the surface of the peripheral wall.

  The resin plate 4 is an APR (Asahi Photo-sensitive Resin) plate, for example, and has a number of fine grooves on its surface, and the resin solution developed on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 3 is transferred and held. It is comprised so that.

  The stage 1 has a large number of suction holes connected to a vacuum exhaust system pipe on its surface, and the substrate 10 is fixed to the surface by suction through the suction holes.

  The substrate 10 is, for example, an active matrix substrate or a counter substrate that constitutes a liquid crystal panel.

  Next, the operation of the printing apparatus 20a configured as described above will be described.

  Here, the resin solution filled in the dispenser 7 is a polyimide resin solution in which a polyimide (PI) resin is dissolved in a solvent containing N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), γ-butyrolactone, butyl cellosolve, and the like (hereinafter referred to as “polyimide resin solution”). , Abbreviated as “PI solution”). The PI solution has a viscosity of about 22 mPa · s at room temperature.

  For example, when the active matrix substrate is used as the substrate 10 and the PI solution 11 is applied to the surface of the substrate 10, first, the PI solution 11 is removed from the anilox roll 3 by the dispenser 7 while rotating the anilox roll 3. Drop supplied to the surface of the peripheral wall.

  At this time, on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 3, the PI solution 11 dripped and supplied from the dispenser 7 is scraped off by the cutting edge E of the first doctor blade 5 as shown in FIGS. On the upstream side (left side) of the doctor blade 5, a liquid pool 11a is formed. Then, on the downstream side (right side) of the first doctor blade 5, the liquid pool 11 a is developed in the width direction of the anilox roll 3 by the first doctor blade 5 and scraped off by the cutting edge E of the second doctor blade 6. Thus, a liquid pool 11b is formed on the upstream side (left side) of the second doctor blade 6. Then, on the downstream side (right side) of the second doctor blade 6, the liquid pool 11b is developed in the width direction of the anilox roll 3 by the second doctor blade 6 and is a thin film of PI solution (hereinafter abbreviated as “PI thin film”). 11c is formed. Here, the directions of the upstream side and the downstream side indicate directions along the rotation direction of the anilox roll 3.

  Thus, on the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox roll 3, the dropped PI solution 11 is scraped in two stages and sequentially developed, whereby a uniform PI thin film 11c is formed in the width direction of the anilox roll 3.

  Subsequently, while the anilox roll 3 and the plate cylinder 2 are rotated, the anilox roll 3 is brought close to the plate cylinder 2 side, and the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 3 and the resin plate 4 on the plate cylinder 2 are brought into contact with each other. At this time, the PI thin film 11 c formed on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 3 is transferred and held on the resin plate 4.

  Further, when the front end portion of the resin plate 4 holding the PI thin film 11c reaches the lowermost portion by the rotation of the plate cylinder 2, the front end portion of the resin plate 4 and the substrate 10 on the stage 1 are disposed. The stage 1 is translated to the right so that the front ends of the two come into contact with each other. At this time, the PI thin film 11c held on the resin plate 4 is transferred to the surface of the substrate 10, and an alignment film 11d is printed on the surface of the substrate 10 as shown in FIG. Here, the direction of the front side indicates a direction along each moving direction.

  As described above, according to the printing apparatus 20a of the present embodiment, the liquid developing means for developing the PI solution 11 supplied to the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox roll 3 is the first along the circumferential direction of the anilox roll 3. Since the doctor blade 5 and the second doctor blade 6 are provided, it is assumed that there is a problem in the supply of the PI solution 11 to the anilox roll 3 and the PI solution 11 is unevenly spread by the first doctor blade 5. However, the non-uniformly developed PI solution 11 is uniformly developed by the second doctor blade 6. As a result, the PI thin film 11c made of the uniformly spread PI solution 11 is transferred to the substrate 10 constituting the liquid crystal panel, and thus the uniform alignment film 11d made of the PI thin film 11c can be printed on the substrate 10. Therefore, when printing the alignment film 11d on the substrate 10 constituting the liquid crystal panel, it is possible to suppress printing unevenness due to the supply of the PI solution 11 to the anilox roll 3.

  In addition, since uneven printing of the alignment film can be suppressed, the liquid crystal molecules in contact with the alignment film can be arranged in a certain direction in the liquid crystal panel, and the display quality of the liquid crystal panel can be maintained and improved.

  Furthermore, since the PI solution 11 can be uniformly spread on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 3 by the first doctor blade 5 and the second doctor blade 6 arranged continuously along the circumferential direction of the anilox roll 3, the doctor It is not necessary to scrape the PI solution 11 with the blade over a plurality of turns of the anilox roll 3. Thereby, since the time required for scraping off the PI solution 11 is shortened, a decrease in manufacturing efficiency can be suppressed.

<< Embodiment 2 of the Invention >>
FIG. 4 shows Embodiment 2 of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition, in the following embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same part as FIGS. 1-3, and the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted. Here, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the printing apparatus 20b of the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the printing apparatus 20b is arranged on the upper right side of the anilox roll 3 in place of the first doctor blade 5 and the second doctor blade 6 constituting the printing apparatus 20a described in the first embodiment. The first doctor roll 8 provided so that the peripheral wall surfaces are in contact with each other, and the right side of the first doctor roll 8 so that the peripheral wall surfaces are in contact with each other on the diagonally upper right of the anilox roll 3. The second doctor roll 9 is provided. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  The first doctor roll 8 and the second doctor roll 9 are, for example, rubber rolls and rotate counterclockwise while being pushed into the anilox roll 3 by about 0.2 mm to 0.4 mm, and along the width direction of the anilox roll 3. Are configured to swing.

  Then, when the PI solution 11 is applied to the surface of the substrate 10 using the printing apparatus 20b, the PI solution 11 dropped from the dispenser 7 on the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 3 is the first one as shown in FIG. By being kneaded on the upstream side of the contact portion with the 1 doctor roll 8, a liquid pool 11 a is formed on the upstream side (left side) of the first doctor roll 8. Then, on the downstream side (right side) of the first doctor roll 8, the liquid pool 11 a is developed in the width direction of the anilox roll 3 by the first doctor roll 8 and at the upstream side of the contact portion with the second doctor roll 9. By being kneaded, a liquid pool 11b is formed on the upstream side (left side) of the second doctor roll 9. Then, on the downstream side (right side) of the second doctor roll 9, the liquid pool 11b is developed in the width direction of the anilox roll 3 by the second doctor roll 9 to form a thin film of the PI solution.

  According to this printing apparatus 20b, the first doctor roll 8 and the second doctor roll 9 are arranged along the circumferential direction of the anilox roll 3 as the liquid developing means for developing the PI solution 11 supplied to the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll 3. Therefore, even if there is a problem in the supply of the PI solution 11 to the anilox roll 3 and the PI solution 11 is unevenly developed by the first doctor roll 8, it is unevenly developed. The PI solution 11 is uniformly developed by the second doctor roll 9. As a result, the PI thin film composed of the uniformly developed PI solution 11 is transferred to the substrate 10 constituting the liquid crystal panel, so that a uniform alignment film can be printed on the surface of the substrate 10. Therefore, when printing the alignment film on the substrate 10 constituting the liquid crystal panel, it is possible to suppress printing unevenness due to the supply of the PI solution 11 to the anilox roll 3.

<< Other Embodiments >>
In the first and second embodiments described above, the printing apparatus that prints the alignment film on the substrate constituting the liquid crystal panel has been described. However, in order to prevent a short circuit between the electrodes, the present invention provides a substrate before applying the PI solution. The present invention can also be applied to a printing apparatus that prints an insulating film made of a complex oxide.

  Moreover, in the said Embodiment 1 and 2, although the two doctor blades 5 and 6 and the two doctor rolls 8 and 9 were illustrated as a liquid expansion | deployment means, this invention is not limited to this, 3 The present invention can also be applied to a printing apparatus provided with two or more liquid spreading means.

  As described above, the present invention can suppress printing unevenness due to the supply of the resin solution to the anilox roll, and thus is useful for a flexographic printing apparatus that prints a resin film on a printing medium.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a printing apparatus 20a according to a first embodiment. It is a top view of the anilox roll 3 when the printing apparatus 20a is viewed from above. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the printing apparatus 20a after alignment film is printed. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a printing apparatus 20b according to a second embodiment. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram showing a conventional printing apparatus 120. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of main parts of an anilox roll 103 and a doctor blade 105 that constitute the printing apparatus 120. It is a perspective view of the anilox roll 103 with which the film nonuniformity 111a generate | occur | produced in PI thin film. It is a perspective view of the anilox roll 103 in which the liquid trace 111b generate | occur | produced in PI thin film.

Explanation of symbols

E Cutting edge 3 Anilox roll 4 APR version 5 First doctor blade (liquid spreading means)
6 Second doctor blade (liquid spreading means)
7 Dispenser (Liquid supply means)
8 First doctor roll (liquid spreading means)
9 Second doctor roll (liquid spreading means)
10 Substrate 11 PI solution (resin solution)
11a, 11b Puddle (resin solution)
11d Alignment film (resin film)
20 Printing device

Claims (5)

Anilox roll,
A liquid deployment means for bringing the resin solution supplied to the peripheral wall surface into contact with the peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll along the rotational axis direction of the anilox roll;
A printing apparatus for transferring a resin solution developed on the surface of the peripheral wall of the anilox roll to a substrate constituting a liquid crystal panel and printing a resin film on the substrate,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the liquid developing means are provided along a circumferential direction of the anilox roll. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid developing means is a doctor blade having a blade edge portion that extends in a rotation axis direction of the anilox roll and contacts a peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
The printing apparatus, wherein the liquid spreading means is a doctor roll in which the anilox roll and the peripheral wall surfaces are in contact with each other. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
A liquid supply means for supplying the resin solution;
The printing apparatus, wherein the liquid supply means is configured to drop the resin solution onto a peripheral wall surface of the anilox roll while moving in the rotation axis direction of the anilox roll. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
The printing apparatus, wherein the resin film is an alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules.

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